Country situations

Panama

In Panama, the major colonization area is Darien. Plans have been developed
for directing the process of colonization toward a rational management of the
environment and to avoid a concentration of land in a few large cattle farms,
which occurred in the interior agricultural provinces (Los Santos, Herrera,
Veraguas, and Chiriquí) of the country (see Heckadon 1983). Due to a lack of
funding, and an apparent lack of awareness or concern with potential problems in
Darien, these plans for the most part have not been implemented. Several limited
attempts have been made to develop overseer agencies, which would be charged
with co-ordinating the process of colonization in both an ecological and
socio-economic sense, but these have not had the desired effect.

An additional element in Darien colonization is hoof-and-mouth disease among
cattle. This disease has been eradicated in North and Central America, but still
exists in Colombia. The Darien National Park is a forested buffer which runs the
length of the Panama-Colombia border; it was originally the responsibility of
the Inter-American Commission for the Prevention of Hoof and Mouth Disease
(COPFA). With the extension of the Inter-American Highway into Darien, the
naturally existing forest buffer is increasingly threatened by colonizing
farmers. As the forest shrinks, the accidental introduction of the disease
becomes more likely.

A new attempt to oversee the process of colonization is being generated by
the National Environmental Commission. This commission enjoys government support
but is still largely unfinanced. The problems of Darien are overshadowed by
other environmental problems of national concern: the management of the Panama
Canal watershed is a primary concern for national policy makers, and the
environmental degradation associated with the Cerro Colorado mining operation
attracts a good part of the national environmental interest. At the present
time, a very rapid spontaneous colonization is occurring along new access roads
for mining and oil pipeline maintenance in Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro, in the
western part of the country; while this colonization is smaller scale than that
which is occurring in Darien, it is much more rapid and eye-catching since it
affects virgin forest areas. Darien, on the other hand, represents a
long-standing colonization process which may not attract public attention
despite its national and international implications.

In Darien, several opposed land-use practices can be seen. By far the most
visible practice is the clearing of forest land for the production of annual
crops, followed by the sowing of pastures. This pattern is practiced by the
colonists from the interior of the country in accordance with land-use practices
from their native provinces. A second practice, contiguous to the
"interiorano" clearing, is the maintenance of forest areas by Chocó
and Kuna Indians. Reserves have been established through various means within
the colonization area, and the Indians continue to practice a minimal intensity
agriculture and long-fallow system in the forests which cover their land. A
third adaptation is that of the "black" population, mostly Colombian
immigrants, who, like the hispanic Darienitas (non-lndian natives of Darien),
rely on fishing as a major source of income and practice a limited agriculture
which notably focuses on plantain production as a cash crop. Many of the more
recent immigrants are adopting aspects of the Indian and Darienita land
management strategies, but the process of land conversion from forests to other
uses is still widespread.

As a complement to the land colonization activities, large lumber concessions
are granted by the Directorate of Renewable Natural Resources. Farmers clear
land and sell wood to independent lumber middlemen, and at the same time the
concessions are said to promote occupation of certain areas to ensure a labour
force. A certain amount of tension has been generated between lumber interests
and farmers over ownership of land and logs, leading to increasing pressure on
forest reserves and Indian lands.

At present, the only obstacle to the conversion of Darien into large cattle
ranches is the National Hoof and Mouth Disease Control Programme, which
restricts the movement of cattle from Darien to other parts of the country. The
inability to market animals has reduced the desirability of Darien for
commercial ranching. The agrarian reform agency is understaffed and underfunded
and lacks support from higher level decision makers to enforce agrarian reform
objectives for the area. In general, government agencies are weakly represented
in Darien and yet are the only force which can apply environmental controls at
present. Their activities are hampered by inadequate funding and a lack of clear
directives as to what national policy toward the development of the area is at
any given moment.

Costa Rica

After El Salvador, Costa Rica is the Central American country with least
opportunity for new land colonization in humid tropical areas. Agrarian reform
programmes have occupied much of the national territory, and a vigorous
conservation programme involving the formation of national parks, Indian
reservations, wildlife preserves, and watershed protection zones has restricted
access to much of the remaining noncultivated areas.

Land-use changes in Costa Rica are now largely restricted to changes in
intensity of agricultural exploitation. Politically active peasant groups take
charge of identifying and occupying lands which are underutilized (see Downing
and Matteson 1965); in fact, some of these areas are secondary forest areas with
some primary forest remnants, but there is little sense of "agricultural
frontier," since these are pockets of forest which have been bypassed by
the earlier colonization movement due to problems of accessibility. The area of
most activity is in the Atlantic lowlands of the country, and the Agrarian
Development Institute has begun a major project in conjunction with USAID (US
Agency of International Development) to consolidate and regulate the
colonization process in that area. In 1984 there was a violent invasion of the
southern Pacific highlands, in the Altos de Cotón, near the Panamanian border.
This invasion affects both private farms and forest areas under National Park
Service and Forestry Directorate control. The resolution of this invasion is
working its way through the courts at the time of this writing.

As a response to the unavailability of new lands, a process of agricultural
intensification of humid tropical land use is seen in Costa Rica. The production
of cacao, tropical spices, palm heart, ornamental plants, and especially coffee
has received increasing attention from both government agencies and farmers.
Costa Rican farmers have been very active in the development of agro-forestry
systems to intensify land use. The association of forest species with permanent
crops such as coffee and cacao offers the benefits of both improved soil
structure and fertility (e.g. in the case of Erythrina sp. [Russo 1982] and lnga
sp. [León 1966] for coffee shade) and increased income from the sale of valuable
lumber species such as laurel (Cordia alliodora) or cedro (Cedrela odorata)
associated with cacao and coffee (Rosero and Gewald 1979; Beer 1982a, 1982b;
Heuveldop and Espinoza 1983). These techniques have been empirically developed
by farmers and are cited as positive landuse examples and as promising avenues
for further development research.

The pressures on the limited land area, and the relatively strong position of
agriculture in the national economy of the country, have promoted biologically
appropriate land uses which may serve as models for other areas of Central
America. Nevertheless, there are also areas of serious environmental problems,
especially in the newer colonization areas, which will need special attention.

Nicaragua

Interest in the colonization of humid tropical lands in Nicaragua has
fluctuated in the past 40 years. The "Proyecto Rigoberto Cabezas"
(PRICA) was a sweeping plan to incorporate a large part of the forested Atlantic
zone of Nicaragua (more than 4 million ha) into the national economy by settling
it with farmers (IICAMAG-BID 1978).

Although the project was said to be directed mainly to small farmers,
statistical data show the presence of large farms in the colonization area,
which were unofficially reported to have been granted to government supporters.
The colonization process was largely based on the assumption that the Atlantic
coast could become a major production area for basic grains, to compensate for
the conversion of grain production areas in the western coastal area to
commercial crops. Unfortunately, the progress reports of this project and most
documents were either dispersed or destroyed in the aftermath of the revolution
of 1979, so detailed accounts of the colonization process are not readily
available.

The PRICA project was especially notable for its overestimation of the
availability of arable land in the area. In 1978, the Nueva Guinea area was
estimated to be 33 per cent suitable for all kinds of crop production
(IICA-MAG-BID 1978), while later studies seem to indicate that this figure
should have been placed much lower. The resident population at the time of the
project was also severely underestimated; early PRICA survey teams found the
"uninhabited" forest area to be so filled with spontaneous colonists
at the beginning of the project as to make further settlement difficult (Taylor
1969). Estimates of the current population range from 85,000 to 100,000 (Deve
1983; INETER, pers. comm. 1984), approximately 16 persons per square kilometre
(this is the same as the average national population density).

The most visible outcome of the project is the colony of Nueva Guinea, which
is now a large community of small grain-producing farmers. Soil exhaustion is
reported, and a new development plan incorporating perennial crops has been
implemented, but no results can yet be seen. Although there has been a tendency
for farmers of Nueva Guinea to sell exhausted land and move on into the
surrounding forest area, this has largely been curtailed by guerrilla activity,
and the formerly dispersed agricultural population has now been concentrated in
villages within the area. Nicaragua's humid Atlantic region is striking for the
disease and market problems plaguing the development of permanent crops; a
variety have been tried, but none has been completely successful. Many of these
same crops are now being incorporated into permanent-crop development plans.

Colonization is taking place along new roads connecting the Atlantic coast to
the rest of the country. In the northern part of Zelaya, a new road connects
Puerto Cabezas and Managua, passing through Siuna. In the south, a new road to
connect Nueva Guinea and Bluefields is under construction. Both roads have been
conduits for colonists, although in both areas new colonization seems to have
been slowed by guerrilla warfare. The Miskito population from the northern
Atlantic zone has been relocated along the SiunaPuerto Cabezas road. The road
from Nueva Guinea to Bluefields has seen armed conflicts, and both farmers and
logging crews have abandoned the area.

A major plan for the conversion of the entire Atlantic coast to permanent
crop production has been outlined (EMACRA 1984; MIDINRA 1981), but it is
underfinanced and suffers from a lack of biological research support and
background experience (such as field trials and germ-plasm collections). Efforts
have been made to consolidate research and implementation efforts of different
government agencies involved in the development of the area, but this
consolidation is still far from complete.

Honduras

The sparsely populated parts of eastern and north-eastern Honduras have
received major influxes of colonists in recent years. The mechanization of
commercial export crops in southern Honduras combined with a high population
density has forced farmers to migrate to new areas (De Walt et al. 1982;
Smith-Hinds 1979). The eastern and northeastern sections of Honduras are the
areas of the most intensive colonization. The most extensive area is in Olancho,
but there is also colonization in Gracias A Diós, Colón (Agáun Valley), and in
Atlántida (in the mountains near Trujillo). Several surveys have identified
major unexploited areas which would be appropriate for agriculture; it is
pointed out in these surveys that a large portion of the good agricultural lands
in Honduras is still under forest (FAO 1967).

Two major tendencies in Honduran colonization can be distinguished. The first
is the creation of government projects which are heavily involved in the
establishment and design of new communities and agricultural systems. This has
occurred most notably in the Aguán River Valley (Díaz A. 1974; Martínez and
German 1974), and similar but much less well-endowed efforts are being made in
areas such as the Agalta, Guayape, and Patuca river valleys (MRN-Lavalin 1983;
Smith-Hinds 1979). The objective in these projects is the establishment of
agro-industrial enterprises for commercial products, including cotton, where
possible, and banana and oil palm, among others.

The other tendency is spontaneous colonization, with little attempt to
control or direct production patterns. In Dulce Nombre de Culmi and the northern
bank of the Patuca, farmers have arrived before the completion of roads. Refugee
settlements of Nicaraguans and Salvadoreans tend to follow this pattern, with a
minimum of technical assistance or guidance. Nevertheless, government services
are provided for spontaneous settlers, although not in the comprehensive manner
of a "directed" effort.

Both patterns of colonization bear major similarities. Despite attempts to
promote certain crops within agro-industrial co-operatives in planned
colonization areas, an "unplanned" population inevitably establishes
itself outside the recommended guidelines. This population consists of
disenchanted co-operative members, previous residents of the area, or colonists
attracted by the government services and improved communication associated with
the agro-industrial project. In the Aguán Valley, a considerable population of
unincorporated farmers exists, which endangers the future of the watershed due
to the use of shifting agricultural practices on surrounding hillsides (Van
Ginneken 1981). The overall pattern in both kinds of colonization is one of
large commercial farms in fertile bottom lands, surrounded by small farmers in
the less desirable hilly lands. In the Aguán Valley, as in other areas, the
large commercial farms may be either privately or co-operatively owned.

Honduras has what may be the most vigorous process of new land colonization
in Central America, which continues into the considerable remaining forest areas
of the country. Nevertheless, much of this remaining area does not have soils or
climatic conditions appropriate for traditional agriculture and will require the
development of new techniques and marketing channels to permit their appropriate
use. A notable aspect of colonization in Honduras is that it is well endowed
with experiments in methods for improving soil conservation, land use, forest
management, etc. A major Canadian effort is experimenting with new forms of
peasant forest exploitation, and a variety of efforts to encourage improved soil
management practices are being promoted by CARE, the World Food Program, and the
Peace Corps.

The colonization of Honduras holds both great promise and grave environmental
dangers. Due to the existence of poor soils and large areas of unclaimed forest,
Honduran farmers have opted for extensive land-use practices; forests are felled
and land is cultivated for a short time before being abandoned or sown to
pasture (see Murray 1981; Betancourt and Rafsnider 1982). Little progress has
been made in the development of farming systems which are stable over a period
of many years. While the full impact of this "technological
underdevelopment" has been cushioned by the presence of new lands, the
analysis of the land conservation experiments mentioned above takes on a special
urgency as remaining forest areas shrink.

Guatemala

The colonization efforts of Guatemala have been controversial. Colonization
is occurring mainly in the Franja Transversal del Norte (FTN), a strip of
low-lying tropical land of 8,800 km2 bordering the densely populated
highlands of the centre of the country. With a total population of 172,704, the
FTN has a population density of 17 per square kilometre, as compared to a
national average of 69 per square kilometre. Spontaneous colonization of the
area began before the establishment of planned projects, at least as early as
the l950s (Adams 1965; Carter 1969). The FTN projects set as goals the
integration of the new lands into the national economy and, to a certain extent,
the improvement of agricultural practices and the encouragement of appropriate
systems of cultivation.

The FTN is a large area, and projects first began at its western end. A new
project is being planned for the eastern end of the FTN, which, until now, has
not been greatly affected by colonization plans. Similar to the colonization
work in other parts of the FTN, the objective of this new project is to improve
communications and government services, but with an emphasis on the introduction
of new production systems.

The process of colonization at one point was "directed" by INTA
(Instituto Nacional de Transformación Agraria), in the sense that it was
relatively independent in defining strategies and implementation. A general
characteristic of current colonization efforts in the FTN is the attempt to
consolidate a range of government services in specifically identified
"development poles." The objective is to ensure an adequate provision
of services such as education, health care, transportation, and agricultural
credit and extension in 44 fairly remote areas. The consolidation strategy
leaves it unclear whether colonization activities should be considered
"directed" (since they count on large-scale government support) or
"undirected," since this support is merely the provision of a full
range of government services by the respective agencies which would be expected
in any agricultural region.

By size, the major colonization area of Guatemala is Petén, the northern
lowland province adjoining the FTN. Petén has followed a singular history of
development, where control of all activities has been exercised by FYDEP
(Comisión pare el Fomento de Desarollo Económico del Peten), an agency created
to manage Petén. FYDEP does not respond to or co-ordinate with most other
government agencies, such as those in the agricultural sector. A general plan
for the colonization of Petén. has been developed by FYDEP, but its focus is
production rather than the settlement of population, and it gives great weight
to cattle ranching.

Like Honduras, Guatemala has experienced a variety of land colonization and
management schemes which are of great potential value if they could be carefully
analysed. Changes in the administrative and tenancy structures of colonies,
attempts to introduce new crops, and the attempt to create "development
poles" are all interesting innovations whose evaluation could provide
important insights both for Guatemala and other countries of the tropics.

To a greater extent than in Honduras, farmers in Guatemala have developed
stable production systems, based to a certain extent on communal land management
and the use of low-intensity agricultural practices. One of the most intriguing
strategies is the use of velvet bean (Stizolobium sp.) in crop rotations; this
legume is vigorous and produces a dense mat of vegetation which controls weed
growth and which can be mulched to provide nutrients for subsequent crops. First
reported by Carter (1969), it has since been adopted in the Chocón area (Ruano
1981), where its use continues to
spread.